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I'm not sure why would anyone consider the USA a great place to live or work or anything else. Outrageous healthcare costs, unaffordable universities, low minimum wage, terrible work/life balance with long weeks and very little paid time off (Most employers offer 14 days but there actually 0 mandatory PTO days), 6 weeks of maternity leave, etc... The list goes on and on.

The bottom 20% does not have a great life in Europe either or any other advanced country...

I expect that to be true, but I think life is worse for the bottom 20% of Americans. There is so much crime, drug addiction, lawlessness and an all-around low quality of life in that class of society. It is not a desirable place to be.

It’s better than being poor in a 3rd world country, but that’s not saying much.

I expect that to be true, but I think life is worse for the bottom 20% of Americans. There is so much crime, drug addiction, lawlessness and an all-around low quality of life in that class of society. It is not a desirable place to be.

These ailments do affect necessarily only or the entire bottom 20% of the population, especially if you do not want to...

I'm not sure why would anyone consider the USA a great place to live or work or anything else. Outrageous healthcare costs, unaffordable universities, low minimum wage, terrible work/life balance with long weeks and very little paid time off (Most employers offer 14 days but there actually 0 mandatory PTO days), 6 weeks of maternity leave, etc... The list goes on and on.

because history:

The UK invades a continent;
UK makes millions of new people;
New people make movies like "what happens in vegas";
Stupid people watch "what happens in vegas";
Stupid people want to go to "Vegas".

^ Explained with the English of Mexican immigrant and for 5 years old to get.

USA? Do you have $40,000 / yr to spend on Health care insurance? (not including actual HC services, those are REALLY expensive!)

Your choice may be preferred by some (who have no experience actually succeeding in immigrating to those countries..... not EZ...

Personally I would choose, The Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland in the Europe region. But.... it is not a FREE choice, as those countries will not allow me to move there. I much prefer NZ to Australia, but neither will accept me. (Nor will Canada)

There's a load of hyperbole there. Most people get their healthcare via employers, Medicare, Medicaid, Charity Care or through government subsidized premiums. I don't know a soul that is paying $40k.

There's a load of hyperbole there. Most people get their healthcare via employers, Medicare, Medicaid, Charity Care or through government subsidized premiums. I don't know a soul that is paying $40k.

We don't get insurance through an employer or any government service, as we're self-employed. With our private PPO plan, insurance for our family of five is $12,000/year. If we were to max out the $8K deductible, we would pay a total of $20K. (Yes, it has happened, and we didn't pay a penny beyond the premiums & deductible for anything). It's a lot, but still quite a ways off from $40K.

A country under war or famine would obviously never qualify as a good country, so, obviously, Syria and Eritrea are not good candidates, in any measurable criteria.

Otherwise, what are the measures for a good country? The average income? Family and friends? Cultural scenario?
Despite all its issues harming infrastructure, crime and governance, I'm fine in Brazil because my family and most of my friends are here. On the other hand, I have brazilian friends in France, USA, Spain and Canada, and they don't want for anything in this world go back to Brazil. My brother-in-law, also brazilian, lived for a long time in Bolivia... and loved it; he qualifies Bolivia as the best country of the world.

A lot of muslims from Iraq, Uzbekistan, Burkina Faso and other countries would give everything for living in Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Emirates. But, as a christian, I would never move to these countries (not even for holidays). Jews are at home in Israel and many of them consider it as their homeland, but at the expense of being threatened by other countries and by terrorists.

How about China? Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, are rich and socially balanced cities, but at expense of living under a dictatorship. How about Japan? South Korea? High tech and rich societies, but working so long hours almost having no time to live and under constant risk of attack of North Korea.

Are Canada, Sweden or Finland good choices? Surely, if you don't mind to deal with long and freezing winters. Germany, Austria, Switzerland? A bit less freezing, but reportedly harder to integrate into the society, as the people is not very open to make new friends. Portugal? Mild climate, friendly people and generally good quality of life, but wages are lower than average in Western Europe. Same applies to Spain, but from times to times they have to deal with crisis and civil unrest. Panamá, Costa Rica? Hot throughout all the year - some people love this, other hate. Australia, New Zealand? Excellent choices if you don't mind spending hours and more hours when travelling abroad. Same applies to Chile, but lower loans and having to deal with threatens of earthquakes and volcanos.

Russians have good reasons to keep living in Russia and non-russians also have even better reasons for not moving to Russia.

How about France? Very central in Europe, not too hot nor too cold, it has beaches and winter resorts, lots of world heritage sites, strong cultural life, very open and tolerant. But... what about the unpredictable terror attacks, like those in Paris and Nice? Italy has many of the same characteristics of France, but it's less culturally tolerant and also the homeland of mafia.

All of this being said, the answer to this question is: depends. There is no perfect country. Most countries have good and bad points, and what is good for some may not be good for others.

Last edited by Fabio SBA; 12-08-2017 at 04:23 AM..

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